THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE JUVE : Juventus win ugly, and not for
the first time
Football returned to the Allianz stadium after the winter
break, as Juventus faced Genoa to kick start the second half of the season. Juventus
began the night 4 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli, who won their game away
to Atalanta the previous night, Juventus would be without notable names such as Paulo Dybala, Claudio Marchisio, Juan Cuadrado and Gianluigi Buffon, all due to injury.
Also missing on the night would be the atmosphere created by the Juventus ultra,
as The Curva Sud would be completely empty due to punishment as part of a
complicated case surrounding ticket sales
Juventus started more positively of the two sides with
Pjanic forcing Perrin to make a fantastic save 7 minutes in from a set piece, Juventus
continued to control the game and dominate possession on the way to taking the
lead through Douglas Costa after 16 minutes played, linking up well with
Mandzukic as both exchanged passes on the way to Costa side footing the ball
beyond Perrin. Ten minutes later and Juventus would have another good
opportunity to score from a set piece, this time a Pjanic free kick meeting the
head of Khedira in front of goal, who unfortunately headed the ball well wide
HALF TIME
Into the second half Juventus would have claims for a penalty,
as Pjanic delivered a lofted ball into the Genoa penalty area towards Mandzukic
who went to ground as he failed to meet the ball, replays suggested he may have
been pushed on the back however it did look minimal. Approaching the hour mark
Alex Sandro would have a go at extending Juventus lead, but saw his effort go
wide of the post. Shortly after Juventus would respond to a Genoa corner kick with a
quick counter attack, Higuain heading the incoming ball clear as Juventus broke forward,
Higuain would then receive the ball in front of the oppositions area to pass
towards Chiellini, however Pjanic intercepted the pass and curled an effort of
his own wide of Perrin. As the match approached the last 10 minutes Genoa would
test the nerves of the home fans, as they went forward in search of an equalizer.
Genoa would end the night without a shot on target, Chiellini however had to hurriedly
deal with an awkward bouncing ball in his own box as the Juventus fans voiced
their displeasure with what they were seeing.
THOUGHTS: First
off, this was in all honesty a dull, boring game to watch. Juventus scoring
early and ending the night with 3 points being the only real positives, Douglas
Costa deserves praise but the other outfield players for Juventus should be disappointed
with their showing tonight. Juventus lacked a creative spark and attacking
intents, many players putting in below par performances which luckily didn’t cost
the team dropped points. Pjanic hit several efforts high or wide with both
Mandzukic and Higuaín having a game to forget, play was at times slow and
sluggish and for the last ten minutes Juventus defended a 1-0 lead, at home,
against a Genoa side who despite knocking on the door would go on to end the
night without hitting the target. Allegri went for experience over youth when
it came to his substitutes as Khedira, Lichsteiner and Alex Sandro were
replaced with Sturaro, Barzagli and Asamoah, this was understandable as
Juventus looked to see out a clean sheet yet was disappointing given the likes
of Bentancur and Bernardeschi remained seated on the bench. Overall Juventus
did what had to be done, end the night with 3 more points to stay one point
behind Napoli, however this was far from convincing and you must feel that
against better opposition Juventus could have been punished.
FULL TIME RESULT: Juventus 1-0 Genoa
GOAL SCORER: Douglas Costa (16min)
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